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ON THE TOWN WITH CHIP DEFFAA… CELEBRATING “BROADWAY BEFORE BEDTIME”

June 2, 2026

There are plenty of podcasts dealing with theater and pop culture.  (I’ve been a guest on my share of them.)   The podcast “Broadway Before Bedtime”—presenting new episodes every week--features two theater pros interviewing other theater pros. What makes this podcast unique is that its gifted co-creators/co-hosts—Yair Keydar and Remi Madden Tuckman--are just 13 years old! They first gained attention when they alternated, playing a key character, “Brendan,” in the 2024-25 Off-Broadway musical, Drag.  I wrote in these pages back then—and I choose my words with great care--that they were the most talented child actors on stage in New York that season, and about as impressive as any child actor I’d seen in years. [more]

ON THE TOWN with Chip Deffaa …. for July 5th, 2016

July 5, 2016

I’ve always liked Andrew Keenan-Bolger's work. He was a memorable child actor, playing leads on Broadway in shows like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Seussical," when he was around 13 or 14 years old.  I admired  his sunny, open-hearted work then.  And he's even more successful today (at age 31)  as an adult--not every child actor can make such a transition. He conveys the same sort of buoyant spirit on stage now as he did when I first saw him in those  shows he did so well as a youth.. (His whole family is talented.  He and his sisters, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Maggie Keenan-Bolger, are all making their contributions to the arts.) [more]

City Center Encores production of Jonathan Larson’s “tick, tick..BOOM!”

July 17, 2014

The audience packing City Center--whether applauding or laughing or cheering--certainly showed its enthusiasm throughout. The opening scene of "tick, tick...BOOM!" is very powerfully and economically written. I admire Larson's writing. Hearing those ticks (representing the relentless passing of time), and anticipating the coming boom (of an impending disaster that is somehow sensed without being fully understood) ... well, that came from a deep place. [more]